


Brighten

by Azaisya



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Episode: c01e077 Clash at Daxio, F/F, Feeblemind, Hurt/Comfort, in which i transfer all of the panic i felt during this ep into this fic, theyre in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 17:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18145112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azaisya/pseuds/Azaisya
Summary: Allura is struggling, and Kima is there for her.Or: The attack on Fort Daxio and its aftermath.





	Brighten

**Author's Note:**

> I technically started this when I first listened to ep77 way back in December, but then I just. Never finished it. Anyways I have a lot of feelings about Kima and Allura because their story is lovely and I love them and the good good h/c stuff. 
> 
> This fic takes place during episode 77 so spoilers up until that episode. There is a panic attack in this fic so! be careful of that. There's also stuff like survivor's guilt, although not explicitly mentioned.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Critical Role or any of the characters or settings mentioned below. 
> 
>  
> 
> _I never held emotion in the palm of my hand_  
>  _Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree_  
>  _But now you're here_  
>  _Brighten my northern sky._

When Xanthas smiled, it was a nervous, slippery sort of thing. It was the sort of smile that a man with poor hygiene had, Allura thought idly.

At her side, Kima asked, “How did you even get out of Emon?”

Xanthas tried not to look down his nose at her. He didn’t try very hard. “All due respect, Lady Kima, but I am a very accomplished wizard.”

Allura kept her polite diplomat’s smile on her lips, but Kima didn’t bother. With a loud snort, she said, “Right.”

Xanthas’ face turned an interesting shade of red, and he spluttered, “I bring very valuable information—”

“Which we are happy to receive,” Allura cut in, voice soap-smooth and politician-polite, “Kima, would you mind summoning the General—”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary.” Xanthas straightened his robes, expression mulish. “I’d like to talk to you privately, Arcanist, if you don’t mind.” There was a hint of something in his voice: a hardness, a bit of spite, a dare.

Kima bristled. “That’s stupid. This is a war. You are among allies.”

“With _all due respect_ ,” Xanthas declared, somehow managing to look even further down his nose at her, “I don’t know you and I don’t trust you.”

Kima opened her mouth, but Allura put a hand on her shoulder to silence her. Kima’s head snapped around, eyes furious, but Allura didn’t relent.

Her grip tightened—not that it mattered, considering that Kima's pauldrons were solid metal and enchanted besides—and simply looked at her. Kima deflated under her gaze, her frustration—pent-up from waiting for an imminent fight—leaking from her frame. With a groan, Kima turned back to Xanthas. "Fine. But we need her, so don't take too long."

Xanthas smiled, all slippery charm and oily grace. "Of course, Lady Kima."

Kima's nose wrinkled at his snide tone. As they started to walk away, she reached out and caught Allura's hand. Eyes narrowed, expression dark, she said, "Come find me after."

Allura squeezed her hand. "I will." With her eyes, she tried to say, _I'll be fine. He's an ally. Don't worry._

She wasn't sure if it worked.

Allura led Xanthas through the fort. Should any look, she was as poised as ever: chin high, robes clean, hair braided—but her anxiety was mounting. As soon Xanthas shut the door to one of Elle's meeting rooms behind him, she asked, "What is the situation in Emon? How does the city fare?"

Xanthas stood in front of the door, eyes slipping around the empty room. "It fares poorly."

"Well, yes." Allura leaned her staff against the desk and pulled open some drawers, searching for paper and something to write notes with. "But what of the Council? Is Asum alive, still?" If they could find somebody to confirm Raishan's story. . . .

"Yes, they're all alive. Arcanist," Xanthas said abruptly, "What of this place? What is the plan here?"

Allura slowly looked up from the desk. "Fort Daxio? We intend to. . . ." She trailed off, eyes straying to the wand at Xanthas' side. It was a plain enough thing, just wood with a slight swirl at one end, but something about it made her skin tingle. She'd never seen him with it before, but that alone wasn't cause for alarm. Perhaps it was something about his tone or something about the way Kima had looked at him, but whatever it was stopped her before she shared Vox Machina's plan. Slowly, warily, she asked, "Could you tell me again how you escaped Thordak's sight?"

Xanthas's lips turned down into a scowl. "I worked at the Lyceum. I have my ways."

Allura stood up. "I see." She hadn't spent much time with Xanthas, and he had never struck her as the sort of man brave enough to run from an ancient red dragon. "And you came here?"

Something flashed behind his eyes. "It is where the majority of Emon's military is located. Surely, should you have been in a similar situation—"

"I would not have come here first," Allura interrupted, ice trickling down her spine. "And _you_ most certainly would not have."

He backed away, towards the door, and drew the strange wand. Allura's heartbeat spiked, and she lunged for her staff. Her fingers barely touched the familiar wood before a blast of cold hit her side. The force of the spell wasn't enough to stagger her, but the coldness seeped into her bones, tiny fingers of ice pressing into her muscles.

Allura's fingers closed around her staff, bringing it up instinctually, but her mind—

Her mind was blank. The last of her thoughts slipped away as she scrambled after them, her spells vanishing into tangled strings of arcane symbols in her mind, and _she couldn't think_.

There was nothing but her, her voice trapped in her head, and the room around her seemed to shrink, walls growing dark and loathsome, and the elf just stood in front of her and stared and, suddenly, he was further away— no, _she_ was further away, her back against the wall—stone digging into her shoulder blades, shoulder blades digging into the stone—and her breath was loud and rapid in her ears and her eyes burned and oh, gods, who was this elf and why did he stare so and why did his eyes burn and why, why, why, her hands shook and the light was too bright and she didn't _know_ , she couldn't _think_ , she—

She was gone.

* * *

 Kima waited approximately ten minutes, pacing back and forth in the courtyard and watching the soldiers mill around the fort. It made her feel like a child, but she didn't _like_ having Allie outside of her immediate line of sight. Whitestone, at least, had been relatively safe. Besides, Allura had been too busy exhausting herself over the barrier to get into any real trouble. And before that, during the years—fucking _years_ —that Kima had spent in Westruun and Allura in Emon, she didn't have to worry because _Allie had been in Emon_.

That had been almost as safe as it got, until—

Well.

Kima stopped pacing, frustrated. She was being ridiculous, but she'd never done well with waiting and she'd never liked Xanthas and Fort Daxio was hardly as safe as Whitestone had been.

She was just about to give up and go looking for them when a shout came up from the outer wall. Horns—Daxio’s horns—sounded, deep and booming. Immediately, the soldiers around her began running for weapons or battle stations, voices rising to a tumultuous cacophony.

Kima snatched the arm of one of the soldiers running past. “We’re under attack?” He nodded, eyes wide, and she ordered, “Run down and alert General Elle and Allura."

She grabbed the hilt of the Holy Avenger and raced towards the nearest access to the wall. A steady thrum of power emanated from her holy symbol, the familiar chill of Bahamut's power spreading towards the hand that clutched her sword.

She'd nearly gotten to the top when she heard a voice shout, "Lady Kima!"

Kima whirled around, almost tripping two soldiers, and peered down the stairs. "What?"

A soldier—not the one she'd sent—sprinted up the stairs towards her, face red and chest heaving. "Lady Kima!" He stopped several steps below her and doubled over, panting. "It's Lady Allura—"

Ice filled Kima's veins, and her eyes flashed silver as alarm sent her heart thundering _. Oh, Bahamut, please not Allie. Not her._ "What happened?"

He just shook his head, eyes huge. "You should come." He turned and went running back down the stairs, towards the heart of the fort.

Kima didn't even hesitate before running after him.

Even though they were running against the flow of traffic, the soldiers running for the wall gave her a wide berth, cowed by the murder in her eyes and the holy light that shimmered over her skin in a brilliant promise of violence.

"She's here," the soldier babbled as they turned a corner towards one of the many meeting rooms in the fort, "We don't know what happened, and we can't find Xanthas anywhere." He pointed to an open doorway and the trio of soldiers clustered around it. "In there."

"Right." Kima hesitated just a moment before shoving past the guards. "Allie, wh—" The words died in her throat.

Lying curled up on the ground, knees drawn to her chest and arms clamped over her head, Allura trembled. Her shoulders shook violently with silent sobs, eyes screwed tightly shut and body angled away from the door. A fourth soldier knelt by her, his helmet tucked under his arm and one hand extended.

Gently, as if speaking to a dog caught in a trap or a horse spooked by a storm, he asked, "Arcanist Vysoren? Can you hear me?"

Allura flinched violently away from him, curling tighter into herself, and sobbed.

Kima's blood froze. Quietly, voice heavy with command and fury, she said, "Everybody leave."

The soldier by Allura looked over his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

Kima just stared at him. She _knew_ Allura, knew her like she knew nobody else in this world. Despite the fifteen years that stretched between them like a chasm, despite all their arguments and their mistakes, she'd seen Allura at her best and her worst. She'd seen her after four weeks of trekking through a murky swamp without a bath. She'd seen her after a dragon had scorched her to death. She'd seen her wild with panic and half lost in memories after a night terror.

But she'd never seen Allura like this.

Even when in the darkest depths of her fear, there was always a spark to her eyes. A hint of the magic that swelled beneath her skin, of the sharp mind that could harness it, of the terrible power she hid behind sweet smiles and delicate braids.

But now there was nothing.

" _Everybody leave._ "

Hastily, wordlessly, the soldiers filed out of the room.

Slowly, hesitantly, Kima stepped in. The light faded from her skin and constricted into a cool knot in her chest, pulsing against her holy symbol. "Allie?" she called, voice soft.

Allura uncurled slightly, her arm shifting so that one blue eye could peer out. It flashed wildly back and forth, flicking rapidly around the empty room before settling on Kima.

"Allie," Kima whispered, her heart breaking at the emptiness in that familiar blue gaze, "Can't you hear me?"

All of Allura's breath escaped her in a gasp, and suddenly she was on her feet, a flash of blue robes and pale hair hurtling across the room. She hit Kima with a crash, nearly bowling her over, and Kima instinctively brought her arms around Allura's waist, holding her tightly. Allura was lighter than she remembered, thin from exhaustion and stress, and her narrow frame trembled with sobs.

"Allie," Kima began, bewildered, "Allie, please." Allura buried her face into the crook of Kima's neck and shook. "What happened?" She looked over Allura's shoulder, searching the room. A couple of the desk's drawers were pulled out, but she couldn't tell if anything was missing. Allura's staff laid on the floor, half knocked under the desk, but it lacked the familiar glow of a recently cast spell.

She tried to pull away, but Allura's arms were locked around her neck and she couldn't move.

"Allie, what happened?"

Meaningless sounds escaped Allura's mouth, and she moaned and shook her head.

Kima closed her eyes, fighting back the panic that beat at her heart. Allura just made more senseless sounds, her fingers flickering over Kima's back, and Kima gritted her teeth. "Allie, I don't— Are you hurt?" Her arms tightened around Allura, her eyes roving around the room again. "I don't _know_ ," she whispered, frustration and terror racing in equal parts through her mind when Allura still didn't answer, "I don't know how to help."

A loud _boom_ shook Daxio's walls, and Allura let out a tiny shriek, shoving herself away from Kima and pressing her back to the wall, arms wrapped tightly around her abdomen.

Kima took one look at her tear-streaked face and felt rage coil in her gut. "It was him, wasn't it?" she demanded, "I _knew_ it. I knew that slimy bastard Xanthas—"

Allura sobbed, and Kima grit her teeth.

"I'm going to get him," she snarled, energy thrumming through her words, "and I will tear his heart from his body, _Bahamut be my witness!"_

She stepped forwards, holding her hands out, and Allura eagerly grabbed them and pulled Kima closer.

Her hands shook.

"I don't know what this is," Kima said helplessly, "I'm sorry, I don't— I'm so sorry, Allie." She had nothing, no power to banish whatever had stolen Allura from her. She could feel her own frustration prickling at the corners of her eyes and bit her lip to fight her own sobs. "I'm sorry." She sent a pulse of holy power into Allura's frame, seeking to heal whatever she could.

Allura just flinched away from the light, and Kima's heart broke a little more. Another _boom_ rent the air, and a tiny wail escaped Allura's lips.

Fury and helplessness swirled in Kima's chest, and she squeezed Allura's hands. "Can't you tell me what to do?" she whispered, even knowing it was useless.

Allura just stared at her, blue eyes huge and vacant.

Screams and the sounds of metal against metal, though distant, reached Kima's ears. She turned towards the window, ignoring the sick feeling growing in her gut. Beyond the wall, wyverns circled in the sky. Arrows flew thick through the air, and the soldiers of Daxio fled through the gates.

Through a gap in the wall, towards the top, Kima saw a glimpse of familiar green robes.

Her breath froze. _Xanthas_.

Kima didn't know much about arcane magic or ending curses, but she did know one thing. Killing the caster was one of the best ways to end a spell.

Allura whimpered, and Kima's eyes snapped back to her. She was still pressed to the wall, as if that might protect her, and her eyes locked onto Kima's with all the desperation of one drowning.

"I'm sorry," Kima whispered, helpless and hating her helplessness, "I need to go." She tried to pull her hands free, but Allura clung to her. "Allie—"

Allura shook her head violently, braids whipping back and forth, and Kima closed her eyes against the tears that traced down her cheeks.

When she opened them again, her mind was set. Voice still gentle, she said, "Allie, I need to go. I'm going to kill the fucker that did this to you, and then I'm going to bring you his head." She pulled her hands free and stepped towards the door. "Stay here. Stay safe." Another step. "I'm sorry." Another. "I love you."

Without another word, she whirled about and sprinted towards Xanthas, the vision of Allura's terror-wracked face burned into her mind.

* * *

 (After that, nothing else mattered except that Xanthas was dead and Pike could help Allura and Allura was fine, she was fine, she was _fine_ )

* * *

 Afterwards, Allura couldn't keep her hands from shaking. She wandered around the fort, helping where she could. She cleaned wounds and collected the dead. She did what she could to protect Fort Daxio and what soldiers remained.

(Every once in a while, she would automatically reach for a spell, _Mending_ or _Prestidigitation_ or _Telekinesis_ , only to stop as if stung, remembering the way she'd called for her magic and the way it'd fled like droplets of water spilling away from her hands, and then she'd have to take a deep breath and steady herself against a wall as a familiar panic threatened to overwhelm her)

The entire time, Kima trailed after her like a silent shadow. By the time the night had faded into early morning, Allura looked over her shoulder and said softly, “You can go get cleaned up if you want.”

Kima shot her a look so full of hurt that Allura put down what was in her hands—she was too tired to care what she was doing anymore—and stopped moving.

“Only if you want,” she murmured, although even to her it sounded weak.

Kima’s expression shifted into outrage. “If I w— _Allie!”_

Allura blinked at her. “Kima?”

Kima stomped forwards, hands balling into fists. “You’re so _dumb_ , Allura.”

Allura just stared. Kima hadn’t called her _Allura_ in years, not since their terrible parting after Thordak’s initial sealing in the Plane of Fire. “What?” she asked, trying—and failing—to keep a plaintive note from her voice. She’d been awake for so long now that her mind was starting to fray at the edges, and she certainly wasn't collected enough to even begin trying to decipher the complicated emotions in Kima's expression.

Kima snapped, "I thought I _lost you_. I'm not letting you out my sight again."

Something deep within Allura's heart broke, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm sorry. I hadn't realized—" She stopped, painfully aware that she hadn't realized because she hadn't been thinking at all.

She hadn't _wanted_ to think about anything, much less the helplessness and fear she'd felt under the _feeblemind_ spell, and so she'd drowned herself in work.

 _Classic Allura_ , she thought bitterly, feeling the familiar bite of guilt in her heart.

Perhaps Kima saw that, for the anger faded from her face, replaced with a bone-deep weariness that Allura felt in her own frame. "Come on," Kima said, "Let's go get cleaned up and sleep."

Allura wavered, desperately wanting to keep moving and desperately afraid of the sort of thoughts nighttime drew from her.

Kima stepped forwards, mouth set in a grim line. "It's okay, Allie." She shifted, bringing her hand forwards. "You don't need to be strong all the time."

Allura instinctively reached out to grasp her hand with both of hers, squeezing tightly and grounding herself in the familiar warmth. "Okay," she whispered, voice trembling, "Let's go."

Kima's lips twisted into a small smile. "Yeah, let's go." As they walked together through the fort, stepping carefully to avoid rubble and what few bodies hadn't been collected yet. Kima's eyes drifted to the bodies, and Allura could hear her praying under her breath. That, too, was familiar, the chant of words both Draconic and Common almost as comforting as the memory of Allura's mother singing lullabies as the sun fell.

She almost didn't notice as Kima led her into their bedroom, fumbling one-handed at the lock, until Kima pulled her hand free so that she could light the sconces.

"Do you want me to call for a bath?" Kima called, even as she began stripping her armor from her frame. When Allura didn't reply, she stopped. "Allie?"

Allura's fingers flew upwards until they pressed white-fleshed against her lips, trapping her breath as it beat butterfly-rapid against her lungs.

"Allie?"

Her heartbeat pressed to her lips, pattering _thumpthumpthump_ through her veins, and the room blurred around her as the flame Kima lit vanished against the shadows that crept, ice-cold, dark-cold, death-cold, past her skin and sank its fingers into her flesh. She could feel a pressure in her chest, a hand that grasped her heart and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed and her magic— _her magic_ —was gone, slipping away from her and spilling, spilling, spilling—

" _Allie_." Two hands—small but warm and oh so familiar—grasped her hands and pulled forwards. Allura was speaking, although she was only half-aware of it, words spilling white and rapid from her lips even as they swelled around her throat and choked the air from her lungs.

Light—pale silver, the light of stars and of platinum and of Kima, of Kima, of Kima—bloomed around Allura's vision, slipping over her hands and up her arms and cradling her in its embrace.

The tightness in Allura's chest shattered, and she sucked in a gulp of air.

"Allie," Kima was whispering, grey eyes wide but expression burning, "Can you hear me?"

Distantly, Allura realized she was on her knees. She simply had to look forwards to meet Kima's burning eyes.

"Allie," Kima repeated, her fingers tightening around Allura's hands.

Allura nodded. "I'm sorry," she whispered, breathless and horrified all at once. "I didn't mean to—"

"Shhh." Kima's thumbs rubbed circles over Allura's knuckles, her pale grey eyes bright with worry and sorrow and guilt.

"I'm sorry," Allura repeated, "I'm sorry." Her breath stuttered in her chest, and she pulled her hands free to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Kima shook her head, hands clenching in her lap. "Don't say that, Allie."

Even through her tears, Allura couldn't help laughing softly. Even when they'd been young and foolish, she'd always been apologizing—for nothing, for everything.

Kima had never had any patience for her self-deprecation or her guilt.

"Sorry," she said, again, just on instinct.

Kima's body tilted forwards and then back. "Can I—?"

"Yes," Allura said, emphatically, and Kima immediately threw her arms around Allura's shoulders and held tightly.

"You're okay," Kima whispered, "I promise."

And, just like that, Allura's breath caught in her throat. "Promise?" she repeated, breathless and vulnerable and longing.

Kima pulled away just far enough to meet her eyes. Their noses nearly touched, and Allura felt herself wavering as Kima's warmth and the exhaustion of the day pulled her towards sleep. "I promise."

"Oh." Something warm blossomed in her chest, a tiny seed of hope planted so many years ago. _Promise_ , said Kima, with that tiny, confident tilt to her lips. A promise from Kima was never a light thing; it was writ in stone, in the shadow of the Platinum Dragon himself. "Alright," she whispered, closing her eyes.

Ever so gently, Kima pressed a soft kiss to Allura's lips. "Want me to draw up a bath?"

Allura laid her head on Kima's shoulder and shook her head. A bath sounded like too much work right now, and she wasn't sure if she could stay standing for much longer. She was just so _tired._ She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a full night's rest.

"Alright then." Kima hugged her again, tightly. "Let me finish doffing my armor."

Allura let her pull away and just sat watching while Kima unbuckled her greaves and pulled off her boots. She knew this dance, knew this routine. She knew how Kima liked to untie her braces, how she took off her gauntlets first, how she grumbled over the new dents and scratches. Something in Allura's heart felt very small and bruised. She loved Kima. That wasn’t an easy thing, not when Kima was so adamant in throwing herself at large things with teeth and claws.

Kima was going to go fight Thordak, and there was nothing Allura could do.

“You’ll be careful, won’t you?” Allura asked, so quietly that she wasn’t sure Kima heard.

(She hadn’t been able to protect Ghenn, either, when Thordak snapped their head from their body with a single bite. Or Dohla, roasted alive as she drew Thordak’s attention from the binding ritual. Or Sirus, brutally snatched from the air and swallowed whole)

(She’d nearly broken the ritual, then, and ran for Kima, a tiny spot of silver hacking away at Thordak’s feet)

(Nearly ruined everything because she was _so_ afraid and so desperate and so

Helpless.

She was never in the right place never knew the right things never had enough power never strong enough never smart enough never enough never enough never enough)

A hand touched her cheek, snapping her out of her spiral. Eyes wide, she found Kima staring down at her.

Kima’s expression was so very gentle.

“Come on, Allie. Let’s get you to bed.” She began unlacing Allura’s dress, practiced fingers darting over the delicate ties and buttons with ease.

Allura caught her hands. “Wait.”

Kima immediately froze. “Wait?”

“I should’ve stopped him.”

Kima’s jaw hardened. “You had no way of knowing. None of us even suspected—”

“ _You_ did.” Allura shuddered. “You know something was off, but I just thought it was nerves. I should’ve known. I should’ve—”

“None of this,” Kima interrupted, expression fierce, “is your fault. Do you hear me, Allie?”

Allura just looked away.

Kima grabbed her shoulders. “ _None of this is your fault_.”

Allura wrapped her shaking hands around her abdomen, feeling sick. She was never perceptive enough, never quick enough, never smart enough—

“Allie—”

“I must’ve missed something,” she babbled, “It was just so _much_ , and I’d never written an arcane ritual that complicated before, and I messed up the casting, and I wasn’t even in Emon when he came back. I could’ve done something, I should’ve—”

“No. Absolutely not.” Kima’s fingers tightened around Allura’s shoulders. “We were _kids_ , Allie. We did everything we could—”

“But I—”

“No. Nothing. You did everything you could.”

“He escaped—”

“I don’t care! You put so much magic into that spell you _fucking died._ You gave _everything_ you have to this realm.” Kima drew her arms away, hands clenching into fists. "You _still_ give everything."

Allura bit back the bitterness that rose in her throat. “It’s never enough.”

Kima shook her head. “Bahamut, you’re so— look at _Whitestone!_ Your magic is stretched over that entire city.”

“Gilmore—”

“—is amazing and talented and we all love him, but that would not have happened without you. You’re literally the most trusted source of arcane knowledge in the continent. The Arcana Pansophical sought you out when you were twenty years old. You always do what’s best for the realm, even though most people don’t know half of the shit you pull.” Kima gestured loosely at the rest of the fort. “Xanthas—may his soul rot for eternity—singled you out because you’re the single most powerful person in this entire fucking fort. You’ve _always_ been enough.”

Allura only stared, stunned into silence.

Kima took a deep breath. “You did everything you could to lock Thordak away forever and you did _really fucking good._ You won the realm fifteen years of peace. Nothing we did—nothing you did, nothing Ghenn or Dohla or Drake or Sirus did—was in vain."  Kima laughed, shakily, and Allura realized that she was crying. "Gods, Allie. You're the smartest, most powerful person I know."

Allura squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a low, shuddering breath. "Oh."

"I know you don't believe me," Kima said, quietly, "But I want you to know that it's true. I just— I want you to know that you're incredible."

Kima's familiar warmth drew away, but Allura chased her with her lips, stealing one last kiss even as she reached deep into her core to find her magic—present and powerful, simmering just beneath her consciousness despite Xanthas' spell. She nearly laughed at the ease of it, at the way it leapt to the forefront of her mind and the tips of her fingers with all the enthusiasm of lightning chasing the storm. With a twist of her fingers, she drew threads of power over both herself and Kima, power running like so many beads of static over their skin. Sweat and dried blood and dirt evaporated into the air, burning away at the merest touch of Allura's magic.

When she pulled away, she was breathless.

Kima laughed, a note of relief in her voice. "You're amazing, Allie."

Allura smiled.

Kima tilted her head, reaching out to brush a loose strand of hair behind Allura's left ear. "Are you okay?"

Allura leaned into her touch, eyes slipping shut again. She could feel her magic, now, thrumming just beneath her skin, and she was nearly giddy with relief. "I'm better."

"Good." Kima wiped her eyes and got to her feet. "Let's go to bed, Allie."

By the time Allura finished changing into her night dress, Kima was sitting on the bed. Allura fell into her arms, and Kima pressed a kiss to her brow and held her tightly.

"Night, Allie."

"Good night, Kima." Allura squeezed one of her hands. "I love you."

Kima's arms tightened around her. "I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> (find me @azaisya on tumblr to scream at me about these girls)


End file.
